Pro Tools 101_ An Introduction to Pro Tools 11 ( PDFDrive )

understand whether the file can be read by your session and how the file will
change if it needs to be converted.
Bit Depth, Sample Rate, and File Format
The types of media files that you can successfully import into a Pro Tools
session will depend in part on how your session was originally configured.
Some important considerations for audio files can include the bit depth,
sample rate, and native file format of your session and of the files you plan to
import. Important considerations for video files include the frame rate,
sample rate, and file format.
Audio Bit Depth and Sample Rate
The bit depth (or bit resolution) of a Pro Tools session will be 16-bit, 24-bit,
or 32-bit floating point, and the sample rate may be any of the following:
44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, or 192 kHz. These settings
are specified when a session is created. (See the “Choosing Session
Parameter Settings” section in Lesson 3.) The sample rate of an imported file
must match that of the current session in order to play back correctly.
In Pro Tools 10 and later, an imported file can be any supported bit depth
(16-, 24-, or 32-bit float) without requiring conversion. In earlier versions,
the file bit depth was required to match the session bit depth.
Audio File Formats
The native audio file formats used in a Pro Tools session include Audio
Interchange File Format (AIFF) and Waveform Audio File Format (WAV).
You specify the session format when the session is created. (See the
“Choosing Session Parameter Settings” section in Lesson 3.)
Tip: To determine the bit depth, sample rate, and file format of an open
session, choose SETUP > SESSION.
Pro Tools recognizes compatible file formats that match the sample rate of
your session, allowing you to add them to the Clip List without requiring any
file translation. All WAV and AIFF files can coexist in a session without
requiring conversion. However, any files in another format as well as any
files that have a different sample rate from the session, regardless of format,
must be converted.